xflow7

How many posts do I need to no longer be a n00b? http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/bigear.gif

Ooooh, sharp. Now that I think about it, XFLOW 7 might look pretty nice emblazoned across my grill... http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif

Welcome to the party. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrinjester.gifhttp://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/willy_nilly.gif

Have you looked on >here? Mostly race engines, but there are always a number of BD's there (not always assembled mind you). People also advertise various BD components from time to time in the Parts for Sale section.xflow72006-10-30 14:33:38

Hi. Welcome. Obviously Sevens lack alot of what are taken for granted as modern safety features (airbags, crush zones, etc). And the size of the car (as you've observed) leaves parts of you relatively exposed. Thus there are some obvious vulnerabilities vs. "regular" cars (some of which you've hit on). Specifically: -side impact -roll-over protection (depending on the design of the roll-bar) -vulnerability of the fuel tank in a heavy rear impact (especially if no spare tire is fitted) Having said that, there are a substantial number of datapoints of accidents in Sevens by now and from what I've seen (anecdotally) the statistics aren't nearly as grim as you'd think. Yes, people have been seriously hurt/killed, but not that many that I've heard about and I've seen pics of the aftermath of some truly horrific looking accidents in which the occupants were not seriously hurt. In addition to the reflexes of the car, it's important not to overlook another major safety feature which is the attentiveness of the driver. My experience is that in being so exposed my senses are particularly keen when driving it and I am acutely aware of other drivers and anticipating what they might do next. I try to be that way no matter what I'm driving, but it's at another level in the Seven. You also tend to intuitively keep yourself out of potential trouble spots like alongside trucks/SUV's that might not see you, etc. Obviously that doesn't eliminate every scenario (especially on the track), but it certainly helps avoid getting into trouble in the first place. As for physical safety features, I expect the honeycomb can improve protection against blunt impacts markedly, but obviously can't protect where there's no bodywork. I know Caterham offers side intrusion bars that are fitted to the race chassis and some have fitted to road cars as well. You can also fit a race-spec fuel cell which dramatically reduces the possibility of a fuel tank puncture. Some drivers also fit full roll-cages for road use, wear helmets, etc. So there are measures you can take to improve the exposedness situation if it makes you more comfortable. Dave

I haven't spent much time in cycle-fendered cars (I have clamshells), but I gather the increase in gravel and crap that ends up in the cockpit with cyles vs. clams is something to behold (at least on Caterhams).xflow72006-10-26 15:56:51

Here's a vid of a 10 second Seven at SantaPod that appeared on BlatChat. The commentary courtesy of the driver's son is priceless. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif (The video is actually about 2 min long due to a SNAFU with the tree on his first attempt). I think the engine in the vid is a Hart 420R, but evidently the owner's next project is to fit a Hart 415T as seen in this thread where the vid was linked: http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?Id=117441

Just wait and see .. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/wink5.gif Ooohhh, now I'm excited! http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/hurray.gif

No idea. Most of the ones I've seen have been black or red (mine's black). Burton Power has a pic of a blue one in their catalog, but that's the only one I've ever seen that color. Best bet would probably be to find some Cortina owners group or something and ask there.

Yeah I like it too. Had I thought of it too originally I might have gotten it instead of XFLOW7, but I like XFLOW7 too and the car's been XFLOW7 for five years now, so I don't see changing it. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/smile5.gifxflow72006-10-23 18:27:04

Netflix. I have the 2nd disc right now. It's pretty different, I have to say, but interesting. KAR 120C only shows up during the intro reel; it's not (yet anyway) actually featured during the show.

Mine's XFLOW7, of course. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif I've thought about ONABLAT, BLATTIN, or BLATMBL too. Also, HAIRBLN and OPENCAR in tribute to the amazing song Open Car by Porcupine Tree. And THXBLVL which is "Thanks, Belleville." Belleville, Ontario being the location of the assignment I had in Canada during which I put away the money that ended up buying the car. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gifxflow72006-10-23 13:50:01

Hi Mike, Great tips you're sharing about polishing strategy. One question. What do you use for an applicator around the bonnet louvers? I currently polish everything by hand as I don't have an orbital (yet), but I've always wondered if I'd end up having to do a good bit of the bonnet by hand anyway to get the louvers to look right. Thanks, Dave

>http://www.race-cars.com/engsales/cosworth/1155165932/1155165932ss.htm http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/yesnod.gif ...while visions of BD's dance in their heads.xflow72006-10-12 18:43:26

I think this is the first time it's happened! Only downside is that I'd already resigned myself to "needing" to buy a snazzy new lightweight alternator to replace it http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif until I spied the old one peering at me from over on the shelf. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/blush5.gif

Hey Sal, Did you ever manage to get your hubs apart?

In the spirit of community enrichment through sharing of experiences I figured I'd share an interesting (well, to me anyway) thing I found today. NB: Probably only truly relevant for people with a Magneton alternator (as supplied by Caterham in my case) Anyway, I was going to head out for a blat today, but on backing out of the garage I heard a kind of a ringing rattle sound from under the bonnet I hadn't noticed before. I tried to listen around for it for a while including the screwdriver to the ear trick without much luck. Finally I noticed the alternator occasionally sounded bad with the screwdriver to it, though it was intermittant. So, I pulled the alternator out suspecting a bearing (I couldn't get the belt off without more or less taking it out anyway), but it spun freely. Feeling a bit dejected at having expended the effort to remove it with no joy I contemplated putting it back in. However, by chance I gave a tug on the rotor shaft and lo and behold it moved axially ~1/8" with a little groan and a rattle! The long and the short of it is there is a thrust plate of some kind riveted to the inside front of the housing that apparently holds the axial position of the rotor. One of the rivet heads had popped off and another stretched so that the plate could rattle around and the rotor could float axially. I could just see the offending plate through the ventilation opennings and the broken rivet shank behind the fan on the front of the alternator. Anyway, I happened to have another alternator that I'd replaced early on due to a suspected faulty voltage regulator (Caterham had just sent me a new alternator when I complained that mine had died inside of 3 months). I swapped over the regulator to that one and put it in and everything appears dandy for the moment. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/hurray.gif Hmmm...apologies for the length of my little novella there, but maybe it will save someone some time if they here such a noise. Davexflow72006-10-07 16:21:46

Gert, I've just watched your Google flyover. Looks like a wonderful drive. Your roads look more fun than mine. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/cryin.gifhttp://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif I wish the resolution on the GE maps around here was better. It would be a great tool for virtual exploring and blatalogical research.

I'm not sure, but I think you'll find a collar like that will reduce fore/aft and lateral loading as well. AFAIK they serve in large part to support the bottom of the helmet to resist motion back and forth or side to side, and thus reduce loading on the neck, IYSWIM. I think the next step beyond that would be something like a HANS or Hutchens device, which I would think would be overkill for road-use and may come with other attendant difficulties. I'm not aware of anything other than those devices for controlling head movement. I don't think you'd want to attempt to improvise something or use anything not already approved for race and/or road use for fear of introducing some unintended consequence in the event of an accident. Anyway, this is really all speculation on my part, so you should probably just ignore me. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif

I would think a neck collar would be the most appropriate solution if you're worried about it. Something like: http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=9307

...Hell, MI that is, just after the blat *to* Hell. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/20061001_163234_Blat-10-1.jpgxflow72006-10-01 16:36:19

Sal, YHM. Hope it's helpful. Dave

Do you know which axle that era of car uses (Morris Ital or Ford)? I have scans of a few pages about the axle from the service manual for the Ital. I'm happy to email them to you if they'll be of use. Let me know Davexflow72006-09-25 19:02:09

Caterham Classic Clamshell fenders 1700 Crossflow (wet sump) Type 9 'box 4-1 side exhaust Std. (i.e. not alu) Radiator Std. Rollbar Windscreen No heater 13" Minitors w/ 185-70R13 Michelin MXV (or something) and spare Bench seats no floor/tunnel carpets Weather gear ~1/4-1/3 tank of gas 1150 lbs. weighed one end at a time on 4 bathroom scales FWIW, the shockingly heavy bits: Spare wheel/tire = 28.6 lbs Bench Seats (2 bottoms + back) = 22 lbs. Edited to say, aluminum is polished; i.e. none of that pesky, massive paint. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gifxflow72006-09-25 18:44:21

I think it's worth noting that some regional sub-fora already exist here in the form of the event forums here. Roll a 7's concern about CCC losing its identity is very valid, but as far I can see the primary advantage a regional forum has over a national forum is reduced thread clutter re: small-scale local events and that is clearly covered by the existing regional event forums. For most other needs (tech. questions, tips, anecdotes, general BS-ing) a national site would seem to be to be preferable for exactly the critical mass reason Mazda cited. Plus, occasionally a regional event blossoms into a national affair (as Al and Gert know only too well!) and in that case having the event originally covered in a sub-forum of the national forum may make it easier to "promote" to national attention if warranted. The regional event planning stuff could in principle be on a regional sub-site as opposed to sub-forum, but the point stands. As for whether regional sites are sub-sites or just linked I think the pros and cons have been pretty well laid out and I don't think there's a clear winner, although I personally kind of like the notion of all the sites having the same look-and-feel with maybe a little provision for regional flair to keep it fun. Davexflow72006-09-07 17:20:07